


In the Somewhere of your Heart.

by hisfairassasin



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-09 23:34:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13492158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hisfairassasin/pseuds/hisfairassasin
Summary: Best friends since preschool Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak were inseparable. It was senior year when Oliver fled Star City, leaving Felicity and his family in the dark about where he ran off to and why he decided to leave to begin with. Five years have passed and Oliver has returned back to his home town only to discover that the unspoken truths he left behind would come back to haunt him. Family secrets are threatened to be divulged and a love that spanned years might just get its final chance.





	1. Returning.

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this story a long time ago and had lost inspiration. For some reason I got it back so Im rewriting it now.  
> I own nothing, all rights belong to the CW.

_Dear Oliver,_

_I can't believe I just wrote "dear, Oliver', I mean I've never written a letter before. The whole 'dear' thing sounds so formal. Its been 5 days since you left. It feels longer. Its been crazy here, your mom's been crying, I didn't think Moira knew how to cry. Thea won't talk to anyone, she barely even leaves her room, Im worried. You called last night, not me obviously, but you called your mom. Told her not to come after you and I don't know what you possibly could have said to keep Moira Queen from hauling your ass back but whatever it was it must have been good enough. I hope you're okay. I miss you and I don't understand._

_-f.s._

 

The letter had faded, the years giving the paper a slight yellow hue. Oliver clutched it tightly, his eyes dancing over the words he had long ago memorized by heart. He wondered who she was now, what kind of woman she had grown to be. Oliver folded the paper back up and slipped it into the pink envelope that it had been placed in. His fingertips brushed over the handwriting, the one he knew all too well.

 _Its been five years,_ he thought. Five years since he'd seen her last, the image of her a burning thing. It was only two years ago that he had well and truly forgotten the exact scent of her skin, the precise gold of her hair. With a sigh Oliver put the letter back into the box that rested on his lap. Inside it where countless others, letters that spanned from the first week he took off up until around two years ago. It was then that they had stopped coming. He placed the lid back on the box and placed it in the suitcase that laid open on the bed. Quickly he zipped it shut and hauled the bag over his shoulder. Oliver took a moment to look around the space that he had occupied for five years. There was nothing left but the bed, his other furniture and belongings had already been shipped out earlier yesterday. There was a gut wrenching sense of fear that gripped him. It felt as though he was still leaving this place a stranger. The vibration of his phone pulled him out of his thoughts. Oliver quickly grabbed his keys heading into the kitchen, he picked up the plane ticket that rested on the countertop and switched on his phone. A text from his mother greeted him,

_The service is next week at noon._

Oliver felt his heart begin to race, a hurricane of beats he could not control. It was all happening so quickly, and although Oliver had already made up his mind that there was no turning back he still felt himself rooted to the floor. His mother's words like a ghost. Images began to flash forward, memories of the week before churning at the forefront of his mind. 

_Oliver had just come back from his morning run when his phone buzzed. But it wasn't a text, it was a call and it was a number he did not recognize. Without giving it much thought Oliver answered it._

_"Hello?"_

_"Sweetheart?" His mother's voice was startling, heart stopping._

_"Mom? Mom is that you?" He sounded like his five year old self again, so completely lost._

_"Yes, sweetheart, its me, I...I had to call"_

_Oliver felt his stomach clench, the world tilting as he shut the door behind him before leaning back against the hard wood._

_"What is it? Whats wrong, is Thea alright?" The words poured out of him._

_"Oh my sweet boy, its not your sister..."_

_For a single moment he thought of_ her.  _Oliver felt the air leave his lungs, his ears ringing._

_"Fel-?" But before he could utter her name, before he could feel the word on his tongue his mother cut him off._

_"Its Robert, Oliver. Its your father, he's...gone"._

_The world suddenly came back into view. Oliver could feel his breath rush out of him, the shock a devastating thing._

_Robert, your father._

_"Sweetheart, please. We need you here, Thea needs you here"._

_"Come home."_

_Home._

_The last time Oliver felt home was when he was wrapped up against a petite frame, golden hair spilling across his chest, and a pair of blue eyes that knew nothing but kindness._

_Oliver hadn't felt home in five years._

_Somewhere in the middle he had promised his mother he would take the next flight back to Star City._

_Because his father was gone and for everything in him Oliver could not find an ounce of sadness to muster._

 

Blinking back the memories Oliver shot out a quick 'ok' to his mom and strode out the door. He had a plane to catch and he couldn't put it off any longer. Come tomorrow he would be back in Star City. The thought threatened to undo him. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm finally finding the groove for this story.

_She was beautiful._

_That was all Oliver could think of. She stood there in her old sweatpants that had seen better days, her hair was an unruly mess of curls that tumbled down her back. She wore a tank top that slid just enough to reveal some skin. She looked absolutely, completely, normal. But it was her eyes, it was the way the blue in them was practically clear when the sunlight hit her face. It was the way her lips curled up as she turned her sight up towards the sky. Oliver could not find it within him to breathe, could not find it within him to move an inch so as not to disturb the moment. Because for the first time Oliver felt his heart clench for his best friend. They sat out in his backyard supposedly studying for his chemistry exam. But Oliver's books were discarded somewhere on the grass and his attention was solely fixed on the girl beside him._

_"You're supposed to be reading you know" Felicity turned to look at him with her eyebrows raised but her smirk gave her away. Oliver cleared his throat as he tore his gaze away from her. He fumbled for the large chemistry book and opened it to some random page. For the life of him he couldn't concentrate and it had nothing to do with the fact that he couldn't care less about chemistry. The feeling in his chest was getting too large, it threatened to burst. He heard Felicity's laugh as she snatched the book out of his hands. Oliver turned to look at her trying desperately to ignore the fact that he wanted to her hear laugh again. She was his friend, his best friend, he didn't feel this way about her. He couldn't._

_"There's no point" Oliver snapped and he hated himself for his frustration. He began to pluck some blades of grass, his head hanging low. It was the warm touch against his bare arm that had Oliver swallowing hard. He looked over to see Felicity staring at him with such kindness that it threatened to undo him._

_"You have no idea how brilliant you are" she said quietly. There was a moment when Oliver felt his heart stutter in his chest. Felicity had never looked at him like that before. It terrified him but he didn't know why. He didn't want to._

_It was getting too heavy, the moment felt far more important than Oliver could handle so he did what he did best. With a smirk he leaned back on his elbows and tipped his head at the sun. "Its just chemistry, Felicity. Who the hell cares?" Oliver didn't see the way Felicity's face fell or the way she shut her eyes at his clear attempt to mask his trepidation. He did however feel the loss of her touch as Felicity took her hand back, curling her fingers into a fist on her lap. If his skin felt cold at the loss Oliver ignored it._

 

* * *

 

It was the sight of his mother that greeted him at the airport. Oliver felt his breath catch as Moira Queen walked up towards him, tears catching at her eyes. 

"My beautiful boy" His mother's arms wrapped around him and for a moment Oliver felt all but ten years old again. His arms came up and crushed her to him as he felt her place a kiss against his cheek. He couldn't believe it had been five years since he'd seen his mother. He couldn't believe he'd stayed away this long. Guilt festered in his gut.

"Mom" Oliver choked out as he pulled away to look at Moira. His mother didn't look too much different except that she had a few more wrinkles around her eyes. But it was the devastating sadness in her gaze that pulled Oliver short. He had nearly forgotten why he had come back to Starling. His father's funeral. Robert Queen was dead. There was a hollow ache in his chest, something akin to bitterness was beginning to surface. 

Moira cupped his cheek as she surveyed her son. "There wasn't a day where I did not miss you, sweetheart". His mother's words were damning, it made the guilt in Oliver's heart double. He shook his head, as he stared hard at the ground.

"I should have come back sooner".

"That doesn't matter anymore, darling. You're back now, that's what counts. Come now let's get your luggage and head to the car."

There were a million questions Oliver wanted to ask. Why wasn't Thea here? Was Tommy still in Starling or had he left? Was he supposed to take over Queen Consolidated now that his father was gone? But the question that Oliver could not even bring himself to think about was if  _she_ was still here. Or had she moved on like he always knew she would? Oliver wondered if Felicity Smoak knew he was back. He wondered if she still had it in her to even care. He could not fault her if she didn't. As Oliver slid into the back of the town car, his mother in the front seat, he felt every ghost of this town surround him.

 


End file.
